UNDERSTANDING DEJA REVIEWERS Eric Gilbert & Karrie Karahalios - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

UNDERSTANDING DEJA REVIEWERS Eric Gilbert & Karrie Karahalios University of Illinois

WHAT’S IN IT FOR DEJA REVIEWERS?

THE REVIEWS overview 98,191 Amazon.com reviews from 200 bestselling products belonging to 15 product categories

COMPUTATIONAL METHOD n-gram & sentiment centrality “Our family loves the Wii Fit, but my son loves it most.” deja score = similarity to centroid & similarity to running sentiment centroid = statistically representative n-grams normalized to Google 1T corpus

THE INTERVIEWS overview 20 interviews from 200 invitations extended conducted via email, phone & IM

THE PROBLEM OF SCALE a common refrain If there's 5, 10, I'll read those. If there's 50 or 60, I'll skim some titles. If a title looks like it has some wit or humor, I might read that one. That’s about it. — P13

AMATEUR DEJA REVIEWERS catharsis I was so moved by this documentary, and as a wolf advocate, I wanted a few others to know about it … I don't care if I write the fi rst review or the 5,000 th . It's cathartic for me. — P3

AMATEUR DEJA REVIEWERS why be unique? I'm sure that other reviewers noted the same features that appealed to me and my kids. A completely unique review wouldn't serve any real purpose, would it? — P5

PRO DEJA REVIEWERS hate mail One said we were trying to “sti fl e dissent.” Another warned us that she does not write “just to see my own words on the internet.”

PRO DEJA REVIEWERS above the din [Do you read other reviews?] Absolutely not … I do not condone plagiarism and would never base my opinion on another reviewer’s thoughts. I believe this alone has led me to be rated highly. — P7

PRO DEJA REVIEWERS building a brand I am trying to build a name for myself … If every other person on earth has said something similar that is fi ne, it in no way diminishes the value of my personal opinion. — P19

RESULTS summary universal problem of scale amateurs: ok as a brick in the wall; visceral reactions pros: special bricks in the wall; cerebral reviews

NUDGEMENTAL COMMUNITIES early sketch

UNDERSTANDING DEJA REVIEWERS Eric Gilbert & Karrie Karahalios University of Illinois